VILLANOVA, PA – The No. 22 Villanova Wildcats traveled to Omaha, Neb., on Friday night where they tallied a convincing 73-57 win over the Creighton Bluejays. With the victory, Villanova improves to 18-3 overall and 9-1 in BIG EAST play, while Creighton falls to 12-6 on the year and 6-4 in league action.
 
History was made at the 6:32 mark of the fourth quarter, when star forward Maddy Siegrist connected on a turn around jump shot to become the all-time leading scoring in the history of Villanova Basketball for both men or women with 2,409 points. She breaks a 36-year old record that was held by Shelly Pennefather who played at Villanova from 1983-87. 
 
The Wildcats took control of the game early, racing to a 12-0 lead. Villanova junior guard Maddie Burke made two early threes and sophomore center Christina Dalce added two field goals in the paint to lead the surge.
 
Villanova led 14-4 before finishing the quarter on a 12-2 run to lead 26-6 after one. The story of the opening quarter for Villanova was the shooting of Burke who was 5-of-6 from long distance for 15 points.
 
On the defensive end of the floor, Villanova was dominant holding the Bluejays without a first quarter field goal on 0-for-15 shooting, including an 0-for-6 effort from three-point range. Creighton was 6-of-6 from the foul line to account for all six first quarter points.
 
Leading 34-15 midway through the second quarter, Villanova closed the half on a 12-4 run to take a commanding 46-19 lead into intermission. Following a 10-foot jumper by Siegrist and a free throw by Kaitlyn Orihel, the Wildcats closed out the first half scoring on back-to-back three-point field goals by sophomore guard Lucy Olsen and junior guard Bella Runyan.
 
Offensive efficiency was the difference in the first half, as Villanova was 17-of-27 from the field and 7-of-11 from three-point range in the game's first 20 minutes,
while Creighton was just 4-of-28 and 2-of-12.

The Wildcats held a 57-31 advantage with 2:33 to play in the third quarter, when Creighton ran off eight straight points to cut the lead to 57-38.  After a Lauren Jensen lay-up made it 57-38 with 30 seconds to go in the quarter, Villanova held for the final shot and made it a 59-38 game on an Olsen jump shot just before the third quarter buzzer. The Olsen bucket gave her team a 61-38 advantage.
 
Creighton never threatened in the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats cruised to the victory.
 
In the win, Siegrist led all scorers with 23 points and eight rebounds. She was 9-of-18 from the field and 5-of-6 from the foul line. Olsen stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Burke finished with 15 points on the five triples.
 
Three Creighton players had 11 points in the loss, including Jensen, Morgan Maly and Carly Bachelor.
 
For the game, Villanova was 28-of-53 from the field (52.8%), 9-of-16 from three-point range (56.3%) and 8-of-12 from the foul line (66.7%), while Creighton shot 33.3 percent from the floor (17-of-51), 30.0 percent from behind the arc (6-of-20) and 81.0 percent from the charity stripe (17-of-21). Villanova owned a 38-25 advantage on the backboards.                  
 
Villanova will now be off until Sunday, Jan. 29, when the Wildcats travel to Hartford to take on the Connecticut Huskies. Tip-off at the XL Center is set for 2 p.m.
 
NOTES: Tonight was Villanova's ninth-straight win…The Wildcats improve to 9-0 on the road this season…After tonight's performance Maddy Siegrist has 2,414 career points…Siegrist is two points away from becoming the all-time leading scorer in the history of Philadelphia Big 5 women's basketball…Siegrist has reached 20 points in all 21 games this season…The 15 points scored by Maddie Burke represent a season-high…Lucy Olsen now has 13 double figure scoring games to her credit this year.